Ukraine, Russia respond to Trump's new ceasefire deadline as strikes continue
LONDON -- President Donald Trump on Monday sought to increase pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin in a bid to secure an end to Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, announcing that he would shorten a 50-day negotiating window to "10 or 12 days from today."
"I'm disappointed in President Putin, very disappointed in him," Trump told reporters during a visit to the U.K. "So we're going to have to look and I'm going to reduce that 50 days that I gave him to lesser number, because I think I already know the answer what's going to happen."
"I'm going to make a new deadline of about 10 or 12 days from today," Trump said later in the press conference. "There's no reason in waiting."
"I want to be generous, but we just don't see any progress being made," Trump added. "I'm not so interested in talking anymore. He talks, we have such nice conversations, such respectful and nice conversations, and then people die the following night in a -- with a missile going into a town and hitting."
Recent months have seen growing White House frustration with Putin, as the Russian leader repeatedly dodged ceasefire proposals while intensifying long-range strikes on Ukrainian cities and its frontline offensives.
Earlier this month, Trump set a 50-day deadline for Russia to accept a ceasefire. Failure to do so, the president said, would prompt punishing new economic measures, among them secondary sanctions on nations doing business with Moscow.
Both the U.S. and Ukraine are calling for a full and immediate ceasefire, after which a peace settlement could potentially be negotiated. Moscow, however, has said that negotiations cannot take place until Ukraine makes significant concessions, among them demilitarization, its withdrawal from frontline regions and the abandonment of its NATO ambitions.
Ukrainian leaders welcomed Trump's latest announcement.
"Clear stance and expressed determination by POTUS -- right on time, when a lot can change through strength for real peace," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X.
"I thank President Trump for his focus on saving lives and stopping this horrible war," he continued. "Ukraine remains committed to peace and will work tirelessly with the U.S. to make both our countries safer, stronger, and more prosperous."
Zelenskyy's influential chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, thanked Trump in a post to Telegram. "Putin only understands strength -- and this has been communicated clearly and loudly," Yermak said.
Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday that the Kremlin "took note of President Trump's statement yesterday," though said he "would like to avoid any assessments" of the president's remarks.
Dmitry Medvedev -- the former Russian president and prime minister now serving as the deputy chairman of the country's Security Council -- framed Trump's challenge as a dangerous escalation.
"Trump's playing the ultimatum game with Russia: 50 days or 10," Medvedev -- who, during Moscow's full-scale war on Ukraine, has become known as a particularly hawkish voice within Putin's security establishment -- wrote on X.
"He should remember 2 things: 1. Russia isn't Israel or even Iran. 2. Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country. Don't go down the Sleepy Joe road!"
Meanwhile, cross-border strikes continued regardless. Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces downed 74 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 37 drones and two missiles into the country overnight, of which 32 drones were intercepted or suppressed. The air force said two missiles and five drones impacted across three locations.
In the frontline Zaporizhzhia Oblast in Ukraine's south, the Justice Ministry said a Russian airstrike on a correctional facility killed at least 17 people and wounded 42 others.
"This is another war crime by the Russians, who will not stop unless they are stopped," Yermak wrote on X.
In all, Zelenskyy said Tuesday morning that 22 people were killed by Russian strikes on Ukraine over the previous 24 hours.
"Every killing of our people by the Russians, every Russian strike, when a ceasefire could have long been in place if Russia had not refused, all this indicates that Moscow deserves very harsh, truly painful and therefore fair and effective sanctions pressure," the president said in a post to Telegram.
ABC News' Will Gretsky, Hannah Demissie, Michelle Stoddart, Lalee Ibssa, Natalia Kushnir and Somayeh Malekian contributed to this report.
